Pretty Little Life
by sp0by
Summary: The girls must crack the mystery of Charles DiLaurentis & lead themselves into the rest of their lives. [Season 6 & Time jump later]
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

People said that time heals all wounds, but sometimes, no matter how much time was given for the wound, the biggest scar still remained. And that scar could be so permanent. Over three weeks of torture— that was an event that four teenage girls could never forget. It would forever sit in their minds. It would scar them for their entire lives. Maybe in twenty years, they would be sitting with their partners and their children, but in the back of their minds, the time they spent in captivity would still be there. No one could blame them, though. How was it possible to forget something of such a great magnitude? It wasn't easy, if it was even possible at all.

So, they would sit in silence for long periods of time. They would stare for hours, and they would think about what happened when they were in captivity. They would think about how they had to torture each other. The sound of each other's screams was enough to make their worlds crumble. No one wanted to hurt the ones they loved the most, but when they were in captivity, that was what they were forced to do. And what they kept on thinking about was the monster that made them hurt each other this way. He had a name. None of them knew if this name was just an alias, or if it was his real name, but that was the name they referred to him as. He was the one that scarred them permanently. This monster's name was Charles DiLaurentis, and he was the worst thing that ever happened to the lives of these four teenage girls.

Up the stairs of the expensive Victorian home came a blue-eyed boy with a heart of gold. He felt himself falling apart when he saw these four girls that he cared about so deeply in such a catatonic state most of the time. The girl he loved the most in the entire world had the most blank look in her chocolate colored eyes, and that pained him more than anything he had ever experienced. He slipped inside of her bedroom, and saw her sitting on her bed. She was staring at the wall blankly, but he knew what she was thinking about. She was thinking about the time that she spent in captivity. All he knew to do was to try and be there for her while she recovered from the trauma of the event. So, that's what he tried his best to do. He seated himself down on her bed, trying not to startle her. She was easily startled. He had always had the habit of sneaking up behind her to give her a kiss or a hug. He liked surprising her. But she was so fragile that he knew if he did that to her, she wouldn't be able to handle it. Gently, he touched her arm. She tensed up at his touch, but she did not freak out too horribly, which he was glad for.

"Hey," he greeted warmly, stroking her arm now. "Your mom told me you were up here. I took some time off of work so I could be with you."

She smiled. Her smile made him smile, too. To his luck, she was in a better mood than she had been in a while. She slowly leaned in to give him a short kiss on the lips, and that gesture was one he appreciated a lot. He wrapped his arms around her, but made sure his grip was gentle. He still felt like he was overstepping his boundaries if he touched her too harshly, or if he said the wrong thing. He was afraid he would upset her.

"You don't have to be so gentle all the time, you know," she reminded him, and raised her eyebrows. "Not that I don't appreciate you not going to work, because your company is overdue, but I would much rather have you catch that sick bastard than spend time with me. I want that psychotic bitch behind bars. We've spent too long without justice. I need it now."

"And you're going to get it," he told her, cupping her cheeks with a smile. "Spencer, the PD is still working hard to identify the guy that has been doing this to you—"

"It's Andrew Campbell. You said it yourself," she concluded.

"Look, I know what I said, but this wouldn't be the first time that someone has looked so guilty of something. I'm starting to believe that it's not just a coincidence that all this evidence pointing to Andrew Campbell showed up now. The police department doesn't know the kind of bitch that A is. A doesn't lose the game that easily," he reminded. "Don't lose hope, okay? We're going to find out who the person really is, and nothing bad is going to happen to you. I won't let A hurt you _ever again_."

She felt like crying, but she forced herself to stay strong. She was Spencer Hastings. She was supposed to be strong. What she _did_ allow herself to do was lean on her boyfriend's chest, holding him as close to her body as possible. He made her feel safe. He was her stable rock. As a feminist, she completely believed that no woman needed a man to keep her safe and protect her, but somehow, whenever she was in his arms, she felt much safer than when she was alone. Besides, there was nothing wrong about feeling safe with a guy that was trained to use a gun and beat bad guys up, was there?

"It has to be Andrew," she said.

"That's what we all thought, okay? But there are plenty of holes in the theory, and I don't want to tell you that it is definitely him. I know that's what I thought before, but we've all believed the wrong thing at some point," he told her, sighing. "I wish I could tell you for sure who it is, but I don't even know. All I can tell you is that I love you, and I will do everything in my power to make sure this guy is caught, locked up, and never lays another finger on you again in his damn life."

Xxx

 _"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!"_

The blonde male had been repeating the same words over and over again for quite a while. The officers were getting sick of hearing those words again and again. Those words were not getting him anywhere. Nobody was looking for another trial in Rosewood. There had been enough of those, so it would have really helped if Andrew Campbell was able to cooperate. He should have known that repeating the same words didn't make him look any less guilty.

"It sickens me," Lt. Tanner began, shaking her head as she sipped her cup of coffee, "...it sickens me that he stands there and continues to deny what he's done to four innocent teenage girls."

Xxx

There was one good thing about what happened in the dollhouse, not that Aria, or any of the girls for that matter, believed that being in the dollhouse was a great experience. But Aria did know that it finally made the police department realize what was happening with A. If it did not happen— if they were never kidnapped and held captive in the dollhouse— Lt. Tanner and the police department, minus Toby, of course, would have no clue that they were facing such horrible things. The entire town would still think they were pathological liars that had been doing nothing but making up lies since Alison's disappearance. They would think that the five girls murdered Mona Vanderwaal, and were the root cause of all the other deaths in the town. They would have still been thought of as the bad guys, and they never would have gained support in finding Charles. Hell, they never would have even known that Charles DiLaurentis was a real person if they hadn't gone to the dollhouse, which allowed Spencer to use her brainiac abilities to unscramble letter blocks to reveal Charles's name.

She still hated every moment of being in the dollhouse, though. It wasn't as if she _appreciated_ the experience of being kidnapped. Maybe it was more of a thankfulness that Charles overstepped his limits. He had gone beyond what a normal person should ever do by simply beginning to blackmail the girls in the first place, but he made a serious mistake by kidnapping the girls. He brought the whole town into it. The only problem was that even though they had the police department fighting for them, it still seemed like A was a step ahead of them. She wanted it to be Andrew so badly. Actually, she _needed_ it to be Andrew. Not only did she need closure on everything that was happening, but she also told yet another lie to the police.

She told them that she had seen Andrew Campbell's face in the dollhouse. That was a lie. They never unmasked Charles. They were never able to do that. He kept his coward mask on, and the girls didn't have a certainty that it was Andrew. Sure, there was lots of evidence that he was the guy they had been looking for, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough until they unmasked Charles by themselves. She still couldn't believe she made the mistake of lying against. Since when did lying ever do them any good? It caused more problems— it allowed A to get dirt on them. It allowed their credibility to the police department to sink like the Titanic.

Finally, the girls had gained back their credibility. The police department saw what the girls had been through in the kidnapping. They saw what this psychotic person was doing to them. They saw the monster that these innocent teenage girls had to face. And with that, finally, the girls were in the clear. Not in a sense that they were safe from the monster, but because they finally had the support. They weren't the girls crying wolf any longer. People knew about what they went through. People didn't think they were crazy. People would actually believe what they said. But Aria screwed that up with another lie. She wanted to take it back, but she couldn't. She lied to the police!

But she felt like she had to. She felt like the police department would never get the sufficient evidence they needed to arrest Andrew's sick ass. Part of her believed that she had to say it to finally get the proof— the witness— that Andrew was the guy doing this. The evidence the police department needed to arrest him... but the only issue was that it wasn't real. And Aria was beginning to believe that the reason nobody could find the evidence needed to make a clear arrest about Andrew being the kidnapper, as well as Charles, was because maybe he wasn't. Maybe it was all in her head, and she just supported it so strongly because she wanted the pain to end. Seeing him behind bars would mean it was the end of the game for good. No more A. She wanted that so badly, but the idea of Andrew being the one felt wrong. It felt worse by the second, and all she wanted to do was take back her lie.

"Aria?"

Her hazel eyes shot up to lock with the eyes of the curly dark haired man standing in her bedroom. She tried not to think about the dollhouse for a second, and she tried to focus on him. She didn't want those sick images in her head, anyways.

"Ezra, what are you doing here?" she asked.

He sighed, and immediately stepped up to her and pulled her in for a hug. She hugged him back, even though she was still afraid. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was afraid that she would lose him.

"I had to see you," he told her, swallowing hard. "I just had to see you, okay? I know you're not alright, and I know I can't fix this for you, but I want to be there for you. I want to do everything I can to make you happy."

"You already are," she said. "You already are making me happy. There's nothing you have to prove."

"Can I get you anything at all?" he asked. "You name it, and I'll get it for you."

"Ezra, come here," she told him, gesturing so he would walk closer to her.

And he did. He walked closer to her. To his surprise, she grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pressed her lips against his. He felt like the reunion between them was overdue, but he would never have kissed her before, since she was in this state. She ran her hands through the curls of his hair. Their kisses grew deeper and stronger— even more passionate. Her fingers coiled around the hem of his shirt, and she started to pull it over his head. She finally tore her lips apart from his to take his shirt off. Their eyes locked when it was halfway off his torso. She giggled for a moment, and then pulled the shirt completely off of his body, tossing it to the floor. In that brief moment that they locked eyes, he remembered what she just went through. She was vulnerable. She was looking for comfort! How could he take advantage of her poor state and have sex with her? It just wasn't right.

"Aria..." he mumbled, shaking his head. "Aria, no. We can't do this. I'm sorry, but we just can't. You're not ready for this again. I don't want to be the guy that slept with you while you're still hurting."

She raised her eyebrows and reminded, "You told me that you would bring me anything I wanted... and what I want right now is you, Ezra. Come on. We all knew I wasn't going to stay away for long. This was bound to happen again at some point. It wouldn't be the first time we've slipped when we weren't supposed to be together." She winked at him before grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back closer.

"No," he refused, shaking his head. "No, Aria, I can't sleep with you. Before the," he paused to think of a word that wouldn't trigger too much emotion for her, "...event, you didn't want to be with me. You broke up with me, actually. What changed? My morals won't let me do this with you. Not now. Not while you're in this state. It just doesn't feel right."

"So you won't ever sleep with me again?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows. "Wise choice, because I don't know if I'll ever be out of this 'state'. You're either going to have to learn to deal with the new me, or you'll just have to walk away now. And I think it's pretty clear what direction you're going in, if you believe that you can't sleep with me while I'm in this 'state'."

"Hey, look here!" he cried, cupping her cheeks. "I would _never_ walk away from you. Leaving you for good is something I would never do. I've never even thought about leaving you. We don't have to be together for me to care about you. I hope you know that. I don't believe for one second what you're saying about this new you. I don't think I have to learn to deal with the new you. I think _you_ have to learn to try and deal with what happened to you. Maybe it's time you open up. Maybe it's time you talk about it. Whether the person you choose to talk about it is me, your friends, your family— you just have to talk to somebody about it. Okay?"

"Okay," she said, trying not to sob, but the tears came rushing out anyways. "Okay, okay. Okay." She immediately pulled Ezra in for a hug, holding his body so close to hers, and never wanting to let go of him.

Xxx

"You seem to be showing up at all the right places and all the right times to be around me, isn't that so?"

Lorenzo Calderon smiled the sweetest smile he could, and then replied by saying, "A little birdie may have told me where I'd be able to find you. Our talk was... intriguing. I'd like to know more about you, Alison DiLaurentis."

"Oh, you don't wanna know me," she laughed, sitting down at his table in the Apple Rose Grille. "You don't want to know the person I've been, or why I'm infamous in this town. Judging by the fact that I've been arrested already, and also the fact that you're partners with Toby Cavanaugh, a guy who hates my guts, I'm sure you've heard enough about me."

"This feels like déjà vu because you told me these things when I saw you at the Brew," he reminded, raising his eyebrows. "I thought I told you to sit down and have a hamburger. And for the record, Toby hasn't said anything about you, so don't worry. I'm not a guy that's searching for the skeletons in your closet. I may be a police officer, but I'm not investigating you. Maybe I can find the new you."

"Well, I certainly am trying to become a better person now," she said, nodding her head. "After the abduction incident with my friends, the whole town knows about what's been happening. And now, it's like there are no secrets. There's no hiding from the police or my family. Everybody knows everything about what's been happening. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my chest, because there's no need for lying anymore."

"I think it's amazing what you girls have been through," he said, still smiling at her. "If you're trying to become a better person, Alison, then I would like to inform you that I'd like to stick around and be a guy that helps you become a better person."

"Okay, Lorenzo, you've proved that you're a good guy. Will you drop the sweet act already?" she scoffed.

"Hmm, you think this is an act?" Lorenzo asked, raising his eyebrows. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe there's always been a guy out there that really wants to be a sweet guy to you? Or maybe that I'm just a sweet guy in general? Point is, you've gotta get used to people caring about you. Because I do."

Xxx

Hanna Marin had completely redone her bedroom. New wallpaper, new furniture, new everything— it was entirely different. Her mother understood. After everything she and the girls had been through in the dollhouse, it was no surprise that Hanna didn't want to come home to a replica of the room she was held hostage in for weeks. She felt safer when the room was different. There were less flashbacks in her mind of what happened in the dollhouse, since she wasn't looking at the same furniture. But she knew she would have to talk about what happened sooner or later.

"Hanna," the gentle voice of Caleb Rivers spoke as he slowly stepped forward to come closer to her. "I love the new room. And I also sorta, really love you."

She smiled, but she continued staring at the floor. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head lovingly. He didn't need to hear her return the words. He wasn't trying to get her to show him how much she loved him. All he wanted to do was be there with her, and for her. It was about making her happy again. So, he stood there, and he held her. Nothing else mattered but her.

"Caleb," she began, turning around so she was facing him. She took both of his hands in hers, and weakly said, "I'm ready... to talk about what happened while we were gone."

He felt his heart racing. For quite a while, everyone had been trying to find out what happened during the abduction, but none of the girls were ready to speak. He knew pressuring Hanna to talk about it would never be a good thing, so he was thrilled that she came out and became ready to talk about it, all by herself. He was amazed at how strong and brave she was. Not only her, but her other friends, too. Although Alison wasn't in the dollhouse with them, he thought she was brave, too.

"Okay," he said, carefully walking her to her new bed, and then sitting down next to her. "If you're ready to talk, let's talk. I'm here to listen. I'm here with you every step of the way— just always keep that in your mind."

"I know you are, and you're amazing for it," she quietly said, running a hand through Caleb's dark brown hair. "It all began after we were arrested. We were on our way, and we were just sitting there and talking to each other. Then A came... and he took us there. That's when it all began."

"And what happened, Hanna?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her to give her the comfort she needed while she explained. "What happened when you were taken to that place?"

Hanna ran a hand through her own blonde hair before saying, "A lot of things... happened. But the worst— the one none of us can ever forget— was when he used us to torture each other. We were forced to make decisions that we didn't want to make. He gave us control for things we didn't want control over."

 _Hanna sat in the dark room. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, but the speaker kept repeating that she had to pick one, or she would suffer. She loved them all. Her sweet Emily. Her genius Spencer. Her artistic Aria. How could she pick one of her best friends? How could she choose one that she loved the least? The speaker kept counting down seconds. She was running out of time to make a decision. One of her friends would get hurt, and it would be all her fault. She picked them to suffer._

 _She had one second left. Out of the impulsiveness in her at that moment, she closed her eyes and slammed her fist down on one of the buttons. She didn't know who she picked, but it hurt all the same. She opened her eyes, and saw which button her fist was planted down on— poor Aria Montgomery. The sound of Aria's scream filled the room, and Hanna could hear it so clearly. It was ringing through her ears. Aria had been shocked, and it was all her fault._

"That sick bastard!" Caleb yelled, turning around and punching the new pillow on her bed as hard as he could. "He emotionally abused you guys into turning on each other? Baby, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry he made you do that."

"No!" Hanna cried, and the tears came pouring out once again. "He made me pick which one of them I hated the most. I don't hate Aria! I love her so much. I love her just as much as the rest. I felt like I was betraying her. I picked her out of all the others. _I_ caused her that pain. I should have just let him do it to me."

Caleb shook his head and kissed her forehead before whispering, "No, no. You cannot blame yourself for what happened, okay? You love Aria, and she loves you right back. She knows how much you love her. You girls have been through hell and back. It wasn't a betrayal. It was impulse. You love her as much as you love Spencer and Emily. Everybody knows that. It's over now. You never will do anything like that again. I'm not letting him put you in that position ever again."

"I never want to go back to that place," she whispered as she sobbed.

"And you never have to. Ever," he promised, hugging her and stroking her blonde hair. "I swear to you, Hanna Marin, I will never let this happen to you again. I shouldn't have let you out of my sight. They're going to find evidence on Andrew Campbell, and he's going to rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life. Hell, they should send that ass to death row! He's a sick dude, and everyone will know it in a matter of time."

Xxx

Emily pulled the blanket over the fragile girl's body. She was even more numb than Emily was, and for a good cause. Years in that hell hole? The tan skinned girl could only imagine what it felt like to lose track of time and all reality, forced to do unspeakable things. Charles was even sicker that she had ever thought he was. She set a glass of milk by Sara Harvey's guest bed, just in case she needed it. She wanted to give this girl the life she deserved. Sighing, Emily began to walk out of the guest bedroom, trying to give Sara the peace and quiet she needed.

"Emily?" the fragile voice called from the bed.

She turned around and eagerly said, "Yeah?"

"Don't leave," Sara begged, sitting up in her guest bed. "Don't leave, please. I've been alone in there for too long, and I don't want to be alone again. I need you here."

"Of course!" Emily exclaimed, rushing back over to the bed to sit by her. "Sara, you're never going to be alone again. You have me, you have my mom, and you have my friends. You're going to have tons of friends here. You're a beautiful girl, okay? What happened was not something you deserved. Nobody deserves to be treated like that. But I'm here for you now."

"You were there, too," Sara said, biting her lip. "You were there, but you don't seem broken."

"Believe me, I am," Emily told her, running a hand through her dark hair. "It messed me up pretty badly. But when I look at you, I realize that I had it better than you. I feel horrible thinking about how long you were in there. I know I have every right to be devastated about what happened in there, but you have every right I have times a million. If I'm feeling this bad about it, I can only imagine what you're feeling."

"Well, I do feel like complete crap," Sara whispered. "You can't take me in like a foster girl. I can't be a burden—"

"You're _not_ a burden," Emily promised, her eyes widening. "Don't ever think of yourself as burden! I want you to be here for as long as you need. If it's the rest of your life, then so be it. But you are welcome here, Sara Harvey. Just know that. I know damn well that my mother supports this completely. We have hearts, and they break when we see you. All we want is for you to heal."

"I'm so lucky I met you," she said quietly. "Thank you..."

"It's no problem, really," Emily assured her. "We're going to find your mother."

"She won't answer you if you call about me. But even if you can find her, there's no way she wants me," Sara said, swallowing hard. "Even after everything, she doesn't want to be my mother."

"Don't say that! You don't know that," Emily assured her, contemplating if she was supposed to hug the poor girl or not. "Your mother probably loves you. And if she doesn't take you, then you've still got a home here. This can be your home, Sara. It can be if you want it to be." Emily didn't know if it was the right time to ask, but she blurted out, "What happened with your mother that makes you so sure she doesn't want you back?"

"We were never really close when I was growing up," Sara explained, staring at the window. "I don't want to talk about everything that happened between us, but what pushed her the furthest away was when I told her about myself... I told her that I'm interested in girls. I don't know if it was a phase, but she was horrified. She hates same-sex couples so much. She and my dad hated everything about gay couples. She couldn't even look me in the eyes once I told her. Oh god, I can still remember how horrible it felt. The things she said to me made me believe that I'm a disgrace to this world because of my sexuality. I felt like I deserved to be kidnapped that day."

Emily shook her head and said, "You do _not_ deserve what happened to you! Look, I went through a similar rough patch with my mom, but she came around. She and my dad didn't want me to be gay, but she turned a corner one day, and she supported me. Now she's okay with who I am. She's supported every girlfriend I've had, and every part of the girl I am now. Your mother has probably been devastated that you are gone, and the fact that you told her about your sexuality must be the last thing on her mind. I bet all she wants is her daughter back."

"You think so?" Sara asked nervously. "I didn't know you were—"

"Gay?" Emily laughed, running a hand through her hair. "I used to hate myself for it. I wished that I could take it back and be somebody else, but now I'm okay with who I am. Actually, I'm not just okay with it; I'm proud of who I am. You should be, too. But that's not the important thing. The important thing is that you're here, you're safe, and I'm not going to stop trying until you're happy."

 **A/N: And there's the first chapter! Everything picks up post 6x02, so I'm just continuing from those storylines. It must seem all over the place with all the characters. Don't worry, things will start looking up. I'm basically doing a writing of season 6, making it the way that I wish I could make it, if I could bend the way they've been writing it. I'll just be continuing to write it as if it's the show. So, we'll keep going with the Charles plot here (I have two ideas for who I'm going to make Charles in the story, I'm deciding now!) There will be plenty to look forward to, I promise. I have HUGE plans for the time jump :) But before the time jump, we have to get through all the A-drama, such as unmasking Charles. There's still time to look forward to. We're going to have prom and graduation, and I have some great storylines that don't have to do with A for that. The romance in this story is going to be very fun.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ezra Fitz was walking to go purchase some comfort food for Aria. She had requested to binge on some donuts and pies. He had agreed to be her deed-slave until her recovery, so when she had a request, he went out to do it immediately. On his way to the store, he ran into a face that he had seen on the news— the mother of Andrew Campbell. His body tensed up when he saw that figure. She was the woman that gave birth to the monster that had been harming his sweet Aria Montgomery. She was going dessert shopping while her criminal son was waiting at the Rosewood Police Department to find out if he would be arrested? He hated that.

"Hey, lady," Ezra aggressively snarled, which was much out of character for himself, but any genetic link to Andrew Campbell seemed like quite the enemy at the moment. "Do you know what your bastard ass of a son has been doing to the girl I love? Do you know what he has been doing to people I care about? I know who you are. You're his mother. Your genes caused this mess!"

"What the fuck, Ezra?" Jason DiLaurentis suddenly walked by, yanking Ezra away from Mrs. Campbell. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry, Mrs. Campbell... this guy is just hurting, okay? He's hurting badly. Don't worry about this. Don't worry about it at all. Keep shopping. Have a lovely day! Thank you."

With that, Jason sent a frightened Mrs. Campbell out. Both of the young men knew Andrew's mother was practically trembling at Ezra's yelling. And Ezra knew the way he attacked her with his angry words was wrong. He didn't mean to be that way, but the thought of Aria and her friends in all that pain caused him to crack. He snapped when he saw Andrew's mother, and he needed to get his anger and frustrations about the whole situation out. Aria was hurting much worse than him. She was the one who actually had to experience the pain and torture of being trapped and held hostage. He knew he didn't experience that kind of horror that she did. So, for that reason, whenever he was around her, he was forced to act as her rock. He had to be a good, supportive guy that told her everything would be alright, even when he was dying inside. Even when everything was building up inside of him, he had to be good to Aria. At that moment, he snapped in front of Mrs. Campbell.

"What good does yelling at her do for you, huh?" Jason demanded, smacking Ezra's arm. "I know you're frustrated about what is happening to the girls. We all are. But what do you accomplish by screaming at his mother in public? We all want Andrew Campbell to rot in his jail cell for what he did to the girls, but that doesn't mean you need to go make his mother shit her pants."

"I flipped out, I'm sorry," he apologized, running a hand through his dark curls. "You're back in town?"

"I took some quick time off. I know I need to be here for them, especially Spencer and Alison, since they're my sisters, but I needed to clear my head for the weekend," Jason explained. "I'm back now, and I'm ready to be there for them, so I'm not some coward."

"You're not a coward; that's not what I was saying," Ezra said, shaking his head. "Aria told me that she and her friends need to talk to you about something. They had been trying to get in touch with you all weekend, but your phone kept going directly to voicemail. I'm sure the girls would want to talk to you about it now, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to pay them a visit."

"Sure, yeah. I was thinking about stopping by to talk to each of them, anyways. My phone died on my trip, and I couldn't answer my phone because I forgot to bring my charger," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'm all ears now. I should probably find them before they freak out anymore. They need some closure, and if I can give it to them, I'm there."

Xxx

Jason knocked on the door of Spencer's house a couple times before stepping back and sighing. He waited patiently for a few moments, until Spencer finally came to the door and opened it. He had a faint smile on his face when she opened the door for him.

"Jason, hi!" she cried, her eyes widening. "We've been looking for you!"

"Yeah, I know. My phone died while I was away for the weekend, but I ran into Ezra on the way here. He was going crazy on Andrew's mother," Jason said with a quiet laugh. "But I'm here now, and he filled me in that you girls need to talk to me. So, I'm here. What's up?"

"Come inside," she told him, and opened the door wider so there was space for him to enter. He nodded his head, entering as she asked him to do. They both sat down on the couch in her living room. She continued by saying, "Your dad— well, Kenneth— told Alison that there's nobody named Charles DiLaurentis in your family. Is that true?"

"That name sounds familiar," Jason said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why do you even want to know who that guy is?"

"Because that could answer all of our questions," Spencer told him, running a hand through her silky brown hair. "Jason, this name is more important than anything. Everyone, including the cops, thinks that Andrew is the guy that kidnapped us. And I'm not saying he's not. Aria thinks he is. Maybe Andrew is Charles. But I know for a fact that the guy who abducted us was named Charles DiLaurentis, and I have to find out who that is. So, if you know anything about him, then you need to tell me now."

Jason stood up from the couch and said, "I can't pinpoint an exact guy, and I'm sorry about that. I... I might know where to look. Can you give me until later tonight? I might be able to find something, but you're just going to have to trust me for now, and call me back later."

"Jason!" Spencer cried. "Can't I come with you?"

"I think you should rest. You've been through a lot," Jason said, and began walking towards the door. "For once, let somebody else do the sleuthing. I might be just as good at finding answers as you are." He chuckled quietly and then told her, "Please, rest. I know you don't want people to know you're fragile and hurting, but it's okay. It's fine. Take a break from the detective work. Maybe Andrew is the guy."

Xxx

"Thank you for coming over— I really need the help with this. I don't think I can do this alone," Alison DiLaurentis said, sighing as she grabbed a pencil from her drawer, as well as a sheet of binder paper.

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Lorenzo exclaimed, flashing her a sweet smile as he sat down next to her on the bed. "I'm glad to help you out. I don't have to go to work for another hour, either. You have a lovely room, by the way."

The blonde giggled quietly at his comment, and then began to think hard about who to add to her list. She was creating a list of all the people she needed to make amends with, in order to become a better person. The first person she could think of was Toby Cavanaugh. He had come a long way from where they started off. She could remember when he was the shy boy that took the blame for 'The Jenna Thing', all out of his fear for Alison DiLaurentis. Now, somehow, he was a confident police officer who had a pretty girlfriend. He was so much stronger now. She was still puzzled at the effect she had on the people of Rosewood.

"Toby?" Lorenzo questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "...as in my station partner Toby Cavanaugh?" The blonde nodded her head. Lorenzo continued by asking, "What did you ever do to him? I could sense the tension of history between you two when you guys were talking, though."

"We have a long history," she said, sighing. "I did some bad things before I disappeared. It was really bad. Toby was a good guy, and I knew a secret about him. I didn't understand it fully at the time, though. He was being abused by his step-sister, and I didn't know that was the case. I thought he was just being creepy with her. I used it against him. I made him take the blame for the bad thing I did."

"Alison, I shouldn't have asked you what you did to him," Lorenzo said, shaking his head. "You don't have to tell me that. I'm the type of guy that focuses on who you are now, rather than what you were before. I don't need to know the Alison DiLaurentis you were back then. I just want to know the Alison DiLaurentis you are now."

She liked that. She liked that he didn't want to know all the bad things she had done. Most people would beg to hear what she did, listen to how horrible she was, and then run away from her. Lorenzo was a fresh face in her life. Maybe what she needed was somebody new to lean on— somebody that didn't know what she was before, and didn't judge her for that time period. When she was with Lorenzo, she didn't feel like she had to prove to him that she was better now. He believed in her being good now, and he didn't want to know when she was bad.

She tried to avoid showing how much she appreciated what he said by continuing to talk about her list. She wrote down the next name on her mind and said, "Jenna Marshall. She's Toby's step-sister. She's not in town right now, so I'll have to come back to her."

"Okay," Lorenzo said, nodding his head. "Who else?"

"I have tons more, trust me," she said, sighing.

"Hey, we've all wronged people in our lives. Your list could be a hundred names long, but the image of the girl I'm looking at right now does not change in my mind," Lorenzo told her. "I don't judge you for the way you used to treat people. The way you've been to me so far has been nothing but kind."

"What if that's just an image of me?" Alison asked, sighing. "You see a good image of me, but you don't know that the image you see is real. I've done more bad than good in my life, and I hate the way I used to be—"

"If you could do it all over again, what would you do?" Lorenzo asked, cutting her off.

"It's more like what I wouldn't do," she answered, staring at the floor. "I wouldn't be so judgmental. I wouldn't be so horrible to people. I wouldn't try and break people's hearts. I wouldn't call people stupid names to make myself feel powerful. I just... I wouldn't act the same way. I would make sure people knew that I actually have a heart."

Lorenzo smiled to himself and said, "That's why I believe the image is real, Alison. You're real. You've learned from your mistakes, and that's all I can ask from you. You can't go back in time and change what you did, but what you can do is learn to be a better person. And that's exactly what you're doing. For that reason, I appreciate you. I admire your determination to change. I believe you're a good person now. This Alison is the girl I want to know."

She smiled back and said, "Well, up next is Lucas Gottesman." She wrote the name down, and then said another, "Paige McCullers. I've tried to apologize to her once, but I don't think it meant much to her. I don't know if she'll even want to hear my voice again. But I'm still going to try. She moved to California a little while ago. The least I could do is give her a call." She wrote Paige's name down, and then said, "Mona Vanderwaal. We have plenty of history. She's done plenty of wrongful things to me, too. Maybe I can reach out to her. I feel like we both owe each other an apology."

"Anyone else?" Lorenzo asked.

"There's plenty of names. I could write a novel of the people I owe an apology to," Alison answered with a scoff.

"Try this— who is the most important person to you that you've acted horribly to?" Lorenzo asked. "If there was only one person you could choose to fix things with, who would it be? Have that be your last person of the night, and your most important task of all— to make amends with that person."

"Easy," Alison commented, and began scribbling down one last name. "The one person I would choose is Emily Fields."

Xxx

"Where have you been?" Spencer demanded, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Ali, we were supposed to meet half an hour ago!"

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time. I was hanging out with this guy," she said, sighing.

"Okay, look: finding out who Charles is— that's way more important than flirting with some guy!" she lectured, raising her voice. "This could change everything. We could finally find the person that's been doing this to us. Go play flirty with all the guys you want once this game is over."

"First of all, I wasn't flirting... but okay, I don't want to argue right now. We've all been through a lot, so we just have to stick together," Alison said, giving in and sitting down. "How are we going to find out who Charles is? It feels hopeless. And I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't think it's Andrew."

"Andrew must be linked to this in some way, but I don't think he's Charles, either," Spencer said. "Jason said he would get back to me— he has a lead on who it may be. Also, Toby doesn't think it's Andrew, either. He feels something is off. Don't we all? We're all rooting for Andrew to be Charles because of what Aria told the police, but we can't give into that theory because we want it to be true. Then this will never end, and Charles will still be out there."

The blonde placed a photo album on Spencer's lap. The brunette carefully opened it, and began flipping through the pages. They all seemed to only be photos of Alison and Jason— no signs of the unfamiliar face of Charles DiLaurentis.

"Maybe your parents didn't want to photograph him," Spencer tried. "I'm thinking that he wasn't the kid that your parents wanted. If they didn't want him, why would they take pictures of him? So, this makes sense. He was the unwanted kid. Maybe that's why he hates you so much. Your mother wanted you, but she didn't want him."

"You came up with that whole theory by yourself?" Alison asked, raising her eyebrows. "We need evidence, Spencer. We can't just make up theories by ourselves. This photo album was stuffed in the back of my mother's things, so I don't think she wanted it to be found. If Charles is really a part of my family, I think there has to be something about him in there. That must be why my mother didn't want the album found."

Spencer continued to flip through the photos. Little Alison and little Jason seemed so happy. It seemed like a much simpler time. And it definitely was. At that time, neither of them knew what huge issues they would be facing in a few years's time. She sighed at the thought, but continued looking at the photographs. Finally, she reached a slightly suspicious page. This page was missing a few photos. There were obviously more photos on the pages earlier, as there were still glue marks remaining. The only thought that occurred in Spencer's brain was that the photos that used to be in here were photos of Charles DiLaurentis.

"I think I may have just found the best piece of evidence that's going to be found in this photo album," Spencer announced. "Ali, come here." The blonde scooted closer, glancing at the page of the photo album. "Some photos are missing here. What if they're photos of Charles? Why don't you ask your dad what these were?"

"That won't lead us anywhere," Alison said, shaking her head. "My dad is never going to tell me anything about Charles! He denies that he even exists. I know he'll lie to me if it was a photo of Charles. He could say that they were photos of me, or photos of Jason, and that they just fell out or something. What are the odds that he will actually admit that these were photos of another son he might have had?"

Xxx

Mike Montgomery opened the door of his home. He had left for a lacrosse tournament, but the moment he heard his sister had returned home, he told his team he needed to get right back. When he heard she went missing, his heart stopped for a second. Maybe he and Aria didn't always get along, but she was his sister, and no matter what he said, he loved her to pieces. So, he informed his team of the family emergency, and had his father pick him up and get him back. Another thing that might have driven his return home was the fact that Mona Vanderwaal was allegedly alive. He was supposed to forget about her, but he couldn't. Everything felt better once he found out that Mona was alive, and so was Aria.

He was afraid that he had lost Mona. He was also afraid that he was going to lose Aria. After dealing with the whole 'death of Mona' business, he was not interested in losing somebody else in such a short time— especially his own sister. He opened the door in a hurry, searching the entire living room for her. He ran up the stairs, darting into Aria's bedroom. When he saw her standing there, he practically leaped into her arms. She hugged her brother back, laughing as the reunion happened.

"Mike!" Aria exclaimed, holding him close. "I'm so happy you're back—"

"You thought I would stay and keep playing lacrosse when my sister just got home?" he laughed, shaking his head. "I'm just... I'm so happy you're okay. I was afraid that I might lose you, and I don't want to lose you. I had to see you again. We've been rocky for the past years, and the fact that I didn't tell you I love you before everything happened... I hated myself every day for that. I couldn't focus on lacrosse knowing that you could be hurt. Tell me who this monster is, and I swear to God, I'll beat the crap out of them, Aria. I swear!"

Aria smiled widely before the sadness struck, and she quietly said, "I wish I knew who it was, but I don't. We don't know who it is. The police think it's Andrew Campbell, and so did I, at first, but now, I'm starting to doubt that it was ever him."

Mike sighed, sitting down on her bed, and saying, "They're going to find the guy that did this to you. I know they will." He paused before adding, "I know you probably wanted to see Dad today, but he dropped me off halfway. I had a friend drop me home. He had an important business meeting to get to. He said he wanted to be here for you, but he really couldn't. I bet it sucks. Are you okay with that?"

"No, I wanted to see him badly, but I understand," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "He's missed out on so much of my life. Hell, I get back from being kidnapped, and my father thinks going to his business meeting is more important than being with me. What did I expect, though? This is the guy that's disappeared half the year for business. I shouldn't have expected him to come back now, even though this happened."

"He loves you, Aria," Mike assured her. "Maybe he's not the best father— okay, he's definitely not the best father— but he still loves both of us so much. He doesn't have a very good way of showing it, but I know he does. You shouldn't blame yourself for thinking that he would come home. What you went through was insane. I don't even know the half of it, because I wasn't there. But I do know you went through some unimaginable shit, and it is not wrong if you to think your own father would come home to support you after you went through something like that. Truth is, he should be here right now. As your father, he should be here, supporting you. But he's not."

"It's fine," she said, shaking her head. "I'm mentally preparing myself to go back to school. I don't think I'm ready."

"He should be here to tell you it's gonna be fine. But since he's not here, I guess I'll tell you that instead," Mike said with a laugh. "It's gonna be fine, Aria."

"Come on, you don't know that," Aria said, shaking her head again. "People are obviously going to be talking about this. We've been in the spotlight before, but never like this. We're the victims this time. It's the talk of the town! Every Rosewood news channel always seems to be talking about us, and that definitely means the kids at our school will be, too. The last thing I need right now is to have a bunch of people blabbing their version of a story they know nothing about. They think they understand what happened by reading a few freaking articles and watching the news. We went through the actual thing! They didn't. I don't want their twisted versions of the story to be flooding around the school."

"But then again, this time, people know that you're the good ones," Mike reminded. "Everything they say will be in your favor. You might not want their pity, but you'll have to deal with that. Hey, and if anyone really is twisting up the story to their liking, you can always call your brother Mike. I heard he's been doing some long days of training at the gym, and will knock them out with one punch if his sister wants him to."

Aria chuckled and hugged Mike before saying, "It's so good to have you back, Mike. I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too," he said with a smile. His smile faded as he finally asked, "Is it true, though? Is Mona really alive? God, I thought I lost her for real—"

"It's true," Aria confirmed, nodding her head rapidly. "It's true— Mona is really alive, Mike. Don't worry. She's hurt, but she's alive. I don't know if she's ready for visitors, but you can try. Her mother picked her up from the hospital recently. I saw the look on Mrs. Vanderwaal's face... she was so happy to see her. The look on her face— I can't even explain it. It was like her whole life was broken, but when she saw Mona again, and held her in her arms, her entire life snapped back into place. She finally found the piece of her that had been missing for too long."

"She needs time with her family," Mike said, sighing. "I get it. I wasn't planning on visiting her now, anyways. When I was in the car, the whole way home, I was thinking about how much time I wasted not being with my family. One day, if something really does happen to you, or anyone else, I won't be satisfied with the way we ended things. I'm gonna be different now. I have to appreciate my family. So, I'm staying with you tonight."

Xxx

It was earlier than she needed to get up, but Hanna was so anxious about it that she couldn't sleep any longer. The day she had been fearing was finally there— the day she would return to school. It was her choice, of course, but her friends were opting to go to school today, so she didn't want to be the odd one out. And if anything, it would be easier to face going back to school alongside her friends today, rather than all by herself next week. So, she bolded herself up and got out of bed. It was only 7 AM, so she had plenty of time to get ready. She thought she needed all the time she could get, though. She needed time to mentally prepare herself.

"Hanna, honey," Ashley Marin greeted, entering her daughter's bedroom, "I told you that you don't have to go back to school today if you're not ready. I know you've been insisting that you start going again because your friends are, but if you really aren't ready, I suggest you just stay home. The school will understand. It's all your call what you do."

"Things aren't going to get any better if I keep waiting," Hanna told her mother, sighing. "I either face going back now, or I face the same thing in a week. I might as well get it over with now. Plus, it'll be easier if I have the support of Aria, Emily, and Spencer. We're all doing this together. We're a team. We always have been."

Ashley smiled faintly and said, "I admire you girls so much. It's amazing how you're coping so well—"

"Well?" Hanna questioned, raising her eyebrows. "I don't think I'm coping well at all. I still... I still have flashbacks every now and then. I changed up my room so it wouldn't be like that place anymore, but those images can't escape my mind. And the others haven't changed their rooms, so I can't go to their houses without remembering what it was like. Their rooms are still replicas of what was in that place."

"Are you sure you're ready to go back to school?" Ashley asked.

"No. No, I'm not sure I'm ready," Hanna responded, shaking her head. "In fact, I know I'm not ready to go back yet. But I'm going to do it anyways. Will you make me some pancakes, Mom? I'm going to grab a quick shower."

"Of course, baby," Ashley agreed, nodding her head. "Anything for you. Take your time. I'll be making the pancakes for you downstairs." She paused for a moment before saying, "Hanna, I love you. I hope you know that."

"I do know that," Hanna said, nodding her head. "And I love you too, Mom."

Ashley smiled before going down the stairs to prepare the pancakes that Hanna wanted.

Xxx

Later that morning, Spencer Hastings was in her own kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. While she was sipping her coffee and blankly staring at the floor, there was a faint knock at the door. For some reason, she became uneasy even when someone knocked at the door, ever since what happened in the dollhouse. Maybe she just always felt like something bad would happen to her if she didn't know what really was going to happen next. She walked to the door, peering through the transparent parts of the glass. To her luck, she was able to catch a good glimpse of a grey button-down, to which she concluded was Toby, since she had seen him wear that shirt before.

She was still uneasy and cautious while she actually opened the door, but she wasn't shocked when she saw that it really was Toby. Relief filled her eyes when the identity was confirmed to be him. She smiled, hugging him quickly.

"Hey," she greeted. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for work?"

"Yes, but that's not for a while," he said, smiling at her. "I know it's your first day back at school, and I can't even imagine how scary this must be for you girls. I wanted to be there for you when you went back, so I'm here now. I thought I could drop you off, and maybe even walk you to class, before I go to work. I can suit-up when I get there."

She giggled and commented, "That makes you sound like a superhero— when you say you're suiting up."

He grinned. Not at the fact that he found what she was saying funny, but because she looked happy. He hadn't seen this kind of happiness on her face since way before the events of the dollhouse occurred. The fact that he was able to put this happiness on her face made him happy. He took her hand and squeezed it, walking her back over to the kitchen counter, where her coffee was sitting.

"We have plenty of time, so take your time drinking your coffee," he said. "Do you want me to make you a real breakfast or something?"

"I already ate. I had a bagel," she told him. "Thank you, though. You're being incredibly sweet."

He smiled and stroked her arm, and then said, "I haven't been able to tell you how I felt while you were gone. I don't know if you're ready to hear about this, so I'll make it simpler than it really is. I was horrified, okay? Not knowing if you're alive or dead was the worst experience of my entire life. Then, I realized how much I had been taking your presence for granted while you were actually here. I'm never going to do that again. You are my everything, Spencer. I wouldn't have a purpose in my life without you. It's time I start making that very clear all the time. You should never even be able to question the fact that you mean everything to me ever again, because I'm never going to stop showing it now."

Spencer leaned across the table and placed a long kiss on Toby's lips, cupping both of his cheeks as she did so. Her body felt at ease. She really did feel happy again. She was traumatized after the events of the dollhouse, but at that moment, she realized how lucky she was to come home to these people. She did have amazing friends. She did have amazing parents. And most of all, she had the best damn boyfriend she could ever ask for. She owed him a little appreciation, too.

She started to unbutton the first button of his shirt as their kisses got heavier. She moved herself so she was seated on Toby's lap, straddling him, with her legs wrapped around his waist. He had both his hands firmly placed on her back, holding her close as they continued to kiss. When she had popped half the buttons off of his shirt, he finally decided to pull back.

"Before school?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I didn't think you would complain," she responded, smirking and brushing her lips across his jawline.

"Oh, I'm not complaining or anything, but I don't think there's enough time for that," he told her, running a hand through his hair. "Spencer, I don't want you to be late for your first day back at school."

"A little time is all we need," she said.

"Seriously," he sternly spoke. "You just got back from being kidnapped, I don't think we should be doing that kind of stuff."

She sighed and nodded her head before admitting, "Yeah, I guess. But you know I'm not some kind of fragile glass cup, right? I'm not going to fall apart if we sleep together again."

He kissed her forehead and said, "Of course you're not. I know you're not going to fall apart. You're strong, and brave... but I was sort of hoping we could save the," he laughed briefly, "...steamy stuff for tonight."

"For tonight?" she questioned. "What's tonight?"

He sighed and answered, "Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I thought I could give you a break from the sleuthing, and I could take you out on a real date tonight. I had this surprise plan, but I guess now you know about it."

She smiled and pecked his lips, and then said, "I would love that. Don't worry, I'll pretend to be very surprised, so you just go through with your surprise plan the way you were going to before you told me. I promise— it'll be like you never even told me in the first place." She sighed and said, "But maybe I shouldn't take a break from looking for answers. Finding answers now is more important than it has ever been before. After what happened, we really need to know who the person is. I don't think I should take a break."

"Oh, yes you are taking a break!" he argued, shaking his head. "Spencer, you have been playing detective for too long. There are people who actually have the job of finding out who the person is. Tanner is seriously working her ass off about this. She's not taking it lightly anymore, I can tell you that."

"I would totally let them do their job if they would do it right," she defended herself. "They're all so focused on looking for evidence connecting Andrew to everything. But you said it yourself, Toby. Now we're all believing that it isn't him. It wouldn't be the first time that A has planted fake evidence to cause a red herring. Finding A should never be so easy. But with Andrew, everything is falling right into place, which makes it look more and more like the work of A's framing. If the detectives are just going to keep on trying to connect Andrew to the case, then I can't stop looking. I have to figure it out for myself."

"Okay, I understand," Toby said, nodding his head. "You can sleuth all you want, but at least let me take you out on one date tonight. It's a part of the appreciation plan, you know."

Spencer laughed and cupped both of his cheeks. Then, she suddenly retracted her hands when she made a big realization. Jason never called her back about the Charles thing! He promised to call her back later that night with an update about anything he found. Either he totally forgot about calling her, or he didn't want to.

"What's wrong?" Toby asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"We asked Jason for help finding the guy, because we think he's associated to the DiLaurentis family... maybe like a sibling or relative," Spencer explained to him. "He said he had a lead on it— something he needed to look into by himself— and he promised me that he would call me back to tell me what he found later that night. That night was yesterday! Toby, he never called me back. I have to find out what he found."

"You will," he assured her. "Maybe you could just go to Jason's house after school or something. Don't be late for our date though, okay? For your surprise, you'll have to be home."

Spencer laughed and nodded her head.

"Definitely," she agreed. "Shouldn't we get going to school now? I'm all done with my coffee."

Xxx

Hanna was sitting on the steps outside of school. There was still quite a bit of time before school actually began, but she liked when she had time to just think about things. Breaking her deep train of thought was Caleb seating himself down next to her. Since she was so deeply into her thoughts, it took her by a little surprise.

"Caleb? What are you doing? You scared me," Hanna told him.

"Well, I thought my girlfriend wouldn't mind if I sat down next to her, but clearly I thought wrong," Caleb joked, putting his arm around her. "What's wrong, Han? Am I not supposed to talk to you anymore?"

"No, I was just really into my thinking," Hanna informed him, and shrugged her shoulders. "But I guess it is better if you're around. I don't want to think about what happened. Maybe being around other people will take my mind off of it, so I'm not so obsessed with thinking about it. You know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I get what you're saying," Caleb said, nodding his head. "So, if you'd let me suggest something... maybe you should do something fun to take your mind off of everything. A little movie night at home might distract you, don't you think? I could always come over, and we can just lay together again."

"That sounds amazing, but not tonight," Hanna said, shaking her head. "We can do that tomorrow or something. It's been a long time since I've partied my ass off, and I miss it. I don't want to be the sad girl that's thinking about sad things! I want to be the party girl again. The happy party girl. Chuck Meyers is throwing a party, and he invited me, so I don't want to miss it."

"Hanna, a party?" Caleb questioned, raising his eyebrows. "No, you are not going to a drunken party. I told you I'm going to make sure nothing ever happens to you again. Those insane guys from school with their alcohol mixed with your situation is not a good idea. You're not going to this stupid party. You can find some other pastime."

"I'm not going to the party?" Hanna spat, rolling her eyes. "Since when did you make all of my decisions for me, Caleb?"

"Since you almost died, and I had to sit around wondering what was happening to you!" Caleb cried. "Partying is not what you should be doing to cope from what happened. Find something else to do, okay? This is not going to help you. Drinking and playing idiotic shot games won't make this problem go away."

"Thanks, but I didn't ask you for your approval," Hanna snapped at him before getting up and walking away.

Xxx

Ezra handed the barista a five dollar bill for his coffee at the Brew. She handed him a few coins as change, which he stuffed into his wallet. He grabbed the coffee from the counter, and then turned around to go look for a table to sit at. He felt his heart beating faster when he noticed Mrs. Campbell sitting at a table. He had no clue why he acted the way he did earlier, but he knew it was horrendous. Not only was it terrible to make a scene like that, but also he knew it was completely unfair to scream at her for her son's issues. So, he felt like he owed a huge apology to her for the way he acted, if she even wanted to listen to him after what he did.

His gut told him that now was the time to make things right with her, so that was what he planned to do. He began approaching her table, with his mind still fumbling to figure out what he would say to her. How would he address what he did to her politely? There was really no way to justify or excuse his actions. But he slipped down across from her at the table. Her eyes went wide. He could have sworn that her eyes were filled with fear when she saw him sitting down. He really did scare her unnecessarily, didn't he? She began getting up from the table, trying to get away from him.

Ezra sighed before saying, "Mrs. Campbell, please don't run away from me right now. I came here to make things right between us. What I did yesterday morning was truly horrible, and I am so sorry about it. I really just need you to forgive me for it."

"I don't know who you are," she said, beginning to son. "I don't know what my son has gotten into, but I had nothing to do with it. He's always been such a good boy! I didn't think he was involved in something like this. I did not need you to treat me that way yesterday."

"I regret it so much," Ezra told her, running a hand through his hair nervously. "I really, really do regret it. You seem like a wonderful woman, and I know you have nothing to do with whatever your son has gotten into. I've been stressed out with everything. These people I care about have been getting crazily hurt— I'm sure you know all about it— and I was freaking out. You were a direct link to Andrew, who is the prime suspect in all of this. I thought that I could just lash out at you because you have a relation to the person we think has been doing this. I've got my head screwed on straight now, and I know it was unfair to lash out at you like that."

Her eyes seemed to warm up after his lengthy apology. Ezra calmed himself down when he noticed the smile that was appearing on Mrs. Campbell's face.

"If people I love were treated that way, I would be lashing out at everyone around me, too," Mrs. Campbell said understandingly. "It really shows that you're not some inconsiderate monster because you had the courage to come here and apologize to me. I believe you when you say you regret it, and that you know it was wrong. I believe you."

"I still feel like this apology isn't doing you justice," Ezra told her, sighing. "Let me make it up to you, Mrs. Campbell. Let me take you out for dinner, and it'll be completely on me. How does that sound?"

"You don't have to do all of that," Mrs. Campbell said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"But I want to," Ezra said with a smile. "I'm Ezra Fitz, by the way. Hopefully you remember me as a good guy, instead of the guy that screamed at you in the morning."

"You've definitely changed my impression of you with this talk, Ezra," Mrs. Campbell told him with a small laugh. "I would love to go to dinner with you. That sounds very nice. I need a break from all the accusations about my son. And maybe my impression of you will become even better after an amazing dinner. We'll have to see."

Ezra grinned and said, "Great. Let me give you my phone number. I'll give you a call, and we can plan the whole thing out. I hope this makes up for the way I treated you."

Xxx

Back at Rosewood High School, the first bell finally rang, so the students began walking to their first period classes. Spencer didn't end up meeting up with Aria, Emily, and Hanna, since Toby decided to stick around and walk her to class on her first day. The two of them stood by her locker together. She began getting her books out.

"I hope you know your first day back is going to be fine," Toby told her with a smile.

"We all know how I feel about hope— but I'm strongly wishing that the day goes well," Spencer said with a quiet sigh as she pulled her English textbook out of her locker. "I also am strongly wishing that I can find the girls. We were going to start this day off all together. The support would be great. I want them to be doing alright. I don't know if they have the support they need to come back to school. I know I have a pretty good support system. Officer Cavanaugh is at my service!"

Toby laughed, and then placed his hands on her petite waist. He gazed into her eyes lovingly before leaning down to kiss her lips gently. She looped her arms around his neck, happily kissing him back. The brief moment felt like pure bliss. She was happy she got a good moment. It was a wonderful way to start out a very scary first day back at school.

"I hate to interrupt... this... but can I talk to you?"

The voice belonged to Alison DiLaurentis. Spencer and Toby separated their mouths from each other, and turned to face the blonde that was standing there.

"By you, I mean Toby," Alison informed them, scratching her head. "I was hoping that we could talk. I was going to come down to the police station after school to find you, but since you're already here, I guess we can talk now."

"You want to talk to me?" Toby asked, confused. "Um, alright... What do you want?"

Alison glanced over at Spencer.

"No, she's not leaving. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of Spencer, too," Toby said sternly. "This secrets thing has to end. You shouldn't have to talk to me privately."

"Fine, Spencer can stay," Alison said, sighing. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about my past, and this new friend I have has been helping me do some soul-searching. I've decided the kind of person I want to be now. A good person. And in order for me to move forward and be the person I want to be, I have to make amends with the people I hurt."

"Is this your version of an apology?" Toby asked, raising his eyebrows. "An apology for something that happened years ago? Things have changed, Alison. I'm not the same person I was, and neither are you. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten the way things were, and it certainly doesn't mean I'm willing to forgive you for the way thing were. You can't change your past."

"But I can make the present— the future, too— better," Alison told him with the most optimistic look on her face. "Look, Toby, what I did to you was so horrible. If I could take it back, I would. I want to move forward positively. I don't know how I can achieve that, but that's what I want to do. Tell me what I have to do to fix things between us."

"I'm not sure," he said, folding his arms, "but I'm certain that it's going to take a lot more than this pathetic apology for me to forgive you. That's something I'm not sorry for."

The minute bell rang, cutting their conversation short.

"That was the bell," Toby said, the look in his eyes still cold and harsh towards Alison. "I better get going. Have an amazing day at school. Call me if you need anything at all."

He pecked Spencer's lips chastely before exiting Rosewood High School.

Xxx

After school, Emily immediately rushed back to her house. She hated leaving Sara alone. Sara was obviously not ready to return to school. After two years in captivity, it was no surprise that she didn't just need a week of coping before she jumped right back into the school system. All Emily wanted to do for her was to be there for her. She knew that if she was in Sara's shoes, she would want somebody to lean on. She would want somebody to take care of her, and make her feel like everything was still okay. That's the kind of person she intended on being in Sara's life.

"Hi, Sara, I'm back from school," Emily announced, walking into the guest room. "Do you want something to eat, or did my mom take care of you before she left?"

"She gave me some really nice food," Sara said with a grateful smile on her face. "I haven't had food like that in so long— it was amazing."

Emily smiled back and told her, "Well, there's plenty more of that. My mom loves to cook for our guests. She's been learning how to make so many different meals. You'll definitely be satisfied with her desserts. She makes a killer chocolate mousse. I should ask her to make it for you some time."

Sara tilted her head and asked, "How was your first day back at school?"

"Hard," Emily responded, sighing. "It wasn't easy, but I predicted that. I stuck with my friends, and it wasn't so bad. Maybe I'm already used to everybody looking at me at school. This time, it's only better, because they don't think I'm the bad one anymore. At least now, I get looks that are filled with sympathy for me. It's way better than feeling like everybody thinks you're a villain or some sort of murderer."

Sara said, "That's good."

"Do you need anything at all?" Emily asked curiously. "Some more snacks, an extra pillow or blanket, something entertaining to do like watching TV—"

"Thank you for everything, but the only thing I need right now is a hot shower," Sara answered, staring at the floor. "Ever since I left the hospital, I've felt so... unclean."

"If a shower is what you want, a shower is what you're going to get," Emily told her with a smile. "Come on, I'll take you to the bathroom, and get you a towel and a change of clothes. What do you prefer: a bath or a shower?"

"I think I'd rather shower right now," Sara responded.

"Okay, then let me get everything ready for you," Emily said with a sweet smile. "And Sara, I know it must be boring to sit here all day and do nothing. Isn't it? It must be..."

"I'm not looking to go back to school right now. I'm way better off staying here. It feels like home," Sara told her. "It's way better than being... there. I've missed being in a normal home, instead of whatever the hell that was. I just really like feeling safe. And here, I feel as safe as I can feel."

"I know, and I'm glad you feel safe here. That's what I was hoping you'd feel if you stayed here," Emily said. "But maybe you would like to do something fun with me this weekend. I'm sure you need a distraction from all the thoughts about what happened flowing through your head. I know I can't stop thinking about it... I could really use the distraction, and if you could, too, we could go do something fun together. Maybe like... bowling."

"Bowling?" Sara asked with a laugh. "Sure, I would love to. But right now, I just need a shower."

"Oh, right," Emily said, nodding her head. "I'll go get what you need. Stay right here."

"Where else would I go?" Sara half-joked.

Xxx

"Hey, Spence," Hanna said, walking up to her brunette friend with a sigh.

"Um, hello," she greeted cautiously, raising her eyebrows. "Is something wrong, Hanna?"

"No, I just... I thought I would have Caleb's support in all of this, but he's being so overprotective and it's really annoying," Hanna explained, groaning as she whacked Spencer's locker. "I'm the one who went through the kidnapping. He didn't experience it! He doesn't know what my comfort zone is, but he's acting as if he gets to pick and choose what I'm comfortable doing. He basically tried to forbid me from going to Chuck Meyers's party. Like, what the hell? He's not my father. He's supposed to be my supportive boyfriend."

"People have been treating us differently ever since what happened," Spencer agreed with a sigh. "Toby doesn't even want to go further than making out with me. He claims it's not because of what happened, but I still feel like it is. He's never complained before! But we were kissing this morning, and he totally shot me down about going further. What, does he think that sex is going to break me or something?"

"You're sleeping with him?" Hanna asked, raising her eyebrows. "Wow, my friend Spencer Hastings is sleeping with her boyfriend!"

"Are you trying to cast more attention to me?" Spencer asked, whacking the blonde.

"Well, whatever. Maybe Toby doesn't want to do anything with you because he doesn't know what happened in the dollhouse. What if he thinks we got raped or something? He doesn't know if you want to be touched like that," Hanna explained. "I understand where he's coming from. But Caleb? He's being pathetic! If I wanna go to a party, I'm going to a party. I don't need his approval."


End file.
